£6000 ENFIELD RATED
Should you buy one?
The very fact Royal Enfield’s all-new 650 twins are amongst the most talked about bikes of 2019 is itself an indication of the scale of the ambitious Indian company’s achievement. After all, the roadster Interceptor and its café-racer brother, the Continental GT, not only lift Enfield to a whole new level, they’re even being considered as credible rivals for the likes of Triumph’s Bonneville and Moto Guzzi’s V7, as well. And while only developing an A2-licence qualifying 47bhp, with the new 650s’ prices starting at just £5500, or over £2500 less than the cheapest Bonnie, they bring attractive,
credible, retro roadster motorcycling to a whole new market. But how good is it really? Time to put one around the MCN250 to find out…
Of course, there’s not just one allnew Enfield 650, but two. The base roadster, the Interceptor, starts at £5499 with upright riding position, dual seat and round, 13.7-litre fuel tank. But this café racer Continental GT is slightly more costly, starting at £5699 with prices rising according to colour options and the one here is £5899. The GT has a more angular, 12.5-litre tank, rearsets and clip-on bars, plus an optional café racer style seat and cowl, not on our bike, which costs £170 extra.
And, to be brutally honest, inspecting it up close for the first time outside the MCN lock-up, I’m yet to be convinced. Sunny Sunday toys like this aren’t usually built for 250-mile days in terms of either comfort or equipment. Its 47bhp will surely underwhelm and its Indianbuilt, budget approach is all too conspicuous: switchgear and dials are a tad tacky, mirrors cheap, and the Monza filler cap a bit flimsy. But as I hop on board, thumb the starter, twist out a fruity thrumm from the willing twin and blart out of the MCN car park, darting up and down through the gears with ease and dancing nimbly through the traffic, I’m already impressed. Within half-a-mile I’m completely at ease. Despite the ace bars and rearsets, the riding position isn’t at all extreme and, being relatively light, slim and all-round dinky (certainly for me at 6ft 3in) means it’s also completely unintimidating and manageable. You really do just get on and ride.
On the twisty backroad towards Oundle the GT is as simple as bikes get: none of the controls confuse, it’s a doddle to handle and steer and that new 650 twin is soft, flexible and willing. I can already foresee plenty of retro, fashion-conscious A2 newbies forming a queue at their nearest Enfield dealer’s door. Then, after brimming the tank at Oundle to start our fuel test, I hit the faster A605 then dual carriageway A45 to Northampton and the pleasant impression continues.
In contrast to arcane Enfield singles of old, the new 650 is more than happy cruising at a steady 80 or so. The tacho reads an effortless but still evocative 5000rpm in sixth, which